Castle Filled with Blood
by merlin effect
Summary: An argonian immigrant gets his first taste of life outside his homeland.


**So this idea came to me when I was sitting at home, watching my friend play Oblivion. She was doing the thieves guild quest where you have to steal the ring and she wonders out loud what happens to the "lizard people". As soon as she goes home I type up this story.**

**No ownership -_- **

It was three nights after I had finally escaped Black Marsh. My friends and I had snuck over the border with only rusty daggers strapped to our waists and the ragged clothes clinging to our backs. Running through the marsh had been extremely difficult; the mud constantly pulled at our feet. It only took three days until I lost both my wooden clogs. One day, about a week before we reached the border, we were crossing a relatively deep pool. The murky water reached all the way to my armpits. The instant I had just reached dryer ground I had heard a terrified scream. Whipping my head back I saw Treads-Through-Swamp look at me, his eyes wide and horrified before something pulled him under with barley a ripple. The thought of turning back never really crossed our minds as we ran, only getting far far away..

No more friends were lost the rest of the journey. When we reached the border we all just sat under this weeping willow, staring at the lake barley visible. Even though the land differed no more then Black Marsh it was the mood that made us stand there with our mouths open like idiots. After at least five hours I swallow loudly and pull the gold earring hanging from my ear. I glance at my three friends, all their pink eyes wide with wonder. Stepping forward my bare feet broke the brittle bracken loudly. As soon as I'm through the cover of the stooping trees, the sun broke free of the heavy clouds and struck my brilliant red scales of my chest and arms, casting glittering beams over my fellow Argonians. They squint and blink in the light making me laugh out loud. Still laughing I run jovially through the saying grass. Also laughing my friends followed, the few with remaining shirts throwing them off so they could feel the sunlight on their shoulders.

For hours we danced and laughed in the light. When the clouds once again covered the sun we all settled down grinning widely. Eventually we found this ring of animal skin tents set in the loose circle around the remains of a large bonfire. And that's where we are now, sitting around the re-started fire. The orange flames cast weird shadows over everyone's face as we chewed on the cooked venison. Laying back I watch the red moon hanging in the black sky. The sight made my eyelids heavy and I fell asleep in moments.

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I woke to someone stuffing a burlap sack over my head. Yelling and waving my fists I break free of the hands restraining me and start to run wildly forward. Only making it a few feet someone tackled the back of my legs. Landing heavily, my face smashes against the ground. A few sharp teeth broke off and blood fills my mouth. Someone twists my arms behind my back and another person kicked me in the side. I felt a few ribs brake and I moan, trying to twist free. "Little bastard," someone mutters and my arm gets twisted harder.

"Just knock him out," someone says. His bored tone made me flush angrily before a heavy booted foot cracks against my head. The world went black.

A sharp pain flared in my right wrist, pulling me awake harshly. Screaming, my back arches and desperately I try to pull my arm free, only to find it tied down. "You better wake up." The cruel voice made my eyes snap open. The first thing I saw is the shifting shadows on the stone ceiling. Shifting I felt the stone table under me and the bonds around my ankles and wrists. "Look at me!" The pain flares again and I gasp looking over. The man standing there is tall with rugged hair and drooping pale skin and the blackest eyes I've ever seen. The emptiness terrified me even as it held my gaze. Smiling darkly he paces to the end of the table above my head. Straining to see all I could catch is dark shadows.

"Where am I?" I croak looking at my arm again. The emerald scales on my wrist had been sawed off; the sight made my mouth dry.

The man laughs again, hollowly, before asking, "Where do you think?" without waiting for an answer he continues "You see, we here at the castle have a few questions for you."

"I don't know anything!" I scream trying to break free again.

Now there's a knife point stabbed under my chin, getting twisted cruelly. My eyes roll at the pain just as I heard a door open and close. "Your Highness," the man says but all I realize is the pain going away.

"Have you asked it any questions?" a woman asks curtly. She comes into my small range of vision; the face was beautiful in a human way. The strange smooth skin is a pale color with dark full lips. The blue eyes were just as cruel as the man's.

"Not yet."

"Then," the look the women gave him chilled my core. "get to it, Zackary." Now there's hands pressed against my bare chest. A wave of pain sets my nerve endings on fire and my blood to boil. I scream again barely aware of someone asking, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen!" I yell, withering. It was the beginning of the questioning. All the questions seemed to revolve around my life in Black Marsh: where I live, the environment, how I live, my parents. They asked whether any other people came with me over the border. At first I refuse to answer but the pain escalates more then ever until I shout the answer over and over. "Yes! Yes! YES!" the sound of voice rebounds around the small room.

"We are finished," the women states. To far gone I just stare at the ceiling blankly, shivering and waiting for the next bout of torture. And now the man is in my line of vision. The black eyes suck me in, pulling me into a void. Lifting me up I swirl around where there was no where to look, pulling me under a crushing weight. I did not return.

A silver dagger swings down and buries itself deep into the Argonians chest. He chokes loudly, his eyes roll back, and his thin body shudders. A string of blood slips out the corner of his lips. Two guards came to pick up the empty body and dispose of it in the lake.

Just another…

tortured Argonian…

in a castle filled with blood.


End file.
